Design // Multimedia // Illustration

Patrick Chiles: PERIGEE covered

Although I started my design career in science fiction, I haven’t really done too many sf covers in recent years. It’s not for lack of interest, but I’ve been running rampant in the crime scene, and much of my work comes via recommendations. Thus: mysteries and crime fiction.

We’ve been watching the new Mars mission show on Hulu, The First, this week, and it got my fingers itching for some science fiction assignments. So it got me thinking about the last sf works I’d done, and — while it’s not the most recent one — Pat Chiles’ PERIGEE immediately jumps to mind. I made two covers for Pat, PERIGEE and its sequel, FARSIDE, and while I like both, it’s the first book that hits my sweet spot. It’s simple, evocative, and clean, suggesting more than it perhaps delivers, but that’s how it should be. If you leave gaps, the reader’s imagination fills in the rest.

Now there isn’t much backstory to this cover. Pat gave me an outline and I had an idea, which I quickly executed. I think we tried a few variations on the placement of the thin lines on the cover, and there was a version of it with stars (see below), but essentially this was the cover I first proposed, and this was the cover we ran with. I very much enjoyed working with Pat, and am chuffed that I see 84 positive reviews of it on amazon! And if you feel like judging the book by its cover (or those 84 reviews), you can pick up a copy of it here.

Now I’m going to hustle and try to get some more science fiction assignments after a long break. Wish me luck!